


the ones we leave behind

by intothenowhere



Series: Many Pathways, Many Choices [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Post-Order 66
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 03:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17276051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothenowhere/pseuds/intothenowhere
Summary: Volya's world changes yet again as she faces one of her worst losses yet.





	the ones we leave behind

Somehow, they ended up separated. Volya sagged against the side of a building home to one of the many dive bars on Coruscant, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, sucking greedily on the acrid, polluted air. She didn't know where Kazrai ended up, or where Jiurra was, all she knew was that somewhere on this level, there was an Imperial Inquisitor searching for her, and her young Wookiee apprentice.

 

Volya could sense the dark side swelling around her, it was always present nowadays, but it was more like a darkness edging and ebbing around the corners of her subconscious, always alight from the love of her children and her friends. Now, it was curling around her, smothering and infecting. She could feel it in her bones, aching like the cold. 

 

The world shook and trembled around her like a heartbeat as a shuttle passed overhead, dust falling from a space above her from the building. Volya tried focusing herself on it, on the traffic above her, the neon sign swinging lazily overhead, but it was all white noise to the darkness building in the pit of her stomach, threatening to spill tears down her cheeks, her hands shaking at her sides.

 

Volya started at someone shouting her name, panicked that it would be a Stormtrooper - ridiculous, they wouldn't know her name - and immediately sagged with relief when she saw Kazrai running up to her. She hurled herself at him, nearly bowling him down, but she didn't  _ care _ , he was alive, which was more than could be said for most of the people she's loved.

 

“Kazrai - where's Jiurra?” Volya asked once they'd parted. Kazrai was young, younger than Jiurra. He was one of the first kids they took under their wing; he'd run away from his Imperial sympathetic family, and wound up on the streets.

 

“I don't know,” Kazrai answered. Beneath the neon light, his already bright pink skin was even more saturated. “I don't know - I think she headed in the direction of the shipyards -”

 

The world moved around Volya, a blurred and silent thing, Kazrai's voice fading into a dull hum. She stumbled back into the wall, her legs gave out beneath her. It was liked someone had plunged her into a pool of water and ice: her senses and limbs numb, her mind mush, and she could  _ feel  _ it, like a word just on the tip of her tongue.

 

Death.

 

Death was coming.

 

The first noise to break through the fog was the creak of that neon sign, followed by the sound of shaky breaths - her own, she realized belatedly - and then Kazrai's panicking voice, rambling and incoherent as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his friend.

 

And then everything snapped into hyperfocus.

 

“We need to get to the shipyard -  _ now.” _ Volya said, scrambling to her feet. Kazrai gaped at her, incredulous, with a protest ready, but she continued before he could say anything, “No time to explain,  _ come on.” _

 

As they ran through the dilapidated streets of Coruscant, Volya felt like they were trying to outrun the shadows themselves, lurking around every corner, snapping at their feet like baying hounds. 

 

When they finally reached the shipyard, Kazrai - ahead of Volya by a few steps, his strides longer than hers - came to a dead stop, resulting in Volya piling into him. She started to ask what was wrong, before her gaze fell on the sight before the: on the center of the platform, Jiurra stood tall, in an defensive stance, teeth bared and growling.

 

Directly opposite of her, like the shadows of the dark side had formed into one mass, was a figure cloaked in darkness. In their hand was a lightsaber, already ignited. It was not scarlet, though, but the deep fiery orange of a burning flame.

 

It struck a deep, unsettling cord in Volya, reverberating in her system like an animal in a cage. The following snap-hiss of Jiurra's blade made her world slip away, focusing solely on the distance between her and them, the urge to protect Jiurra, and the uncomfortable familiarity of the Inquisitor.

 

Volya darted forward, but Kazrai grabbed her with both hands and dragged her back, “I'm sorry - we haven't been seen yet -”

 

Volya struggled against his grip, but it was of iron. He pulled her away from the street lights and back into the shadows, not far enough for her not to see what happened next.

 

Jiurra charged with a roar, her emerald saber dragging behind her, until she swung it to her front, in a diagonal arc -

 

Volya heard the  _ snap-hiss  _ from where she stood. Watched as the Inquisitor's second blade snapped to life at the last second, catching Jiurra in her unprotected middle, straight through like a javelin. 

 

Jiurra's eyes widened as her saber fell from her slack paw to the ground - the hilt hitting the duracrete sounded like drums to Volya, and Kazrai couldn't hold her back as she darted forward, a scream falling from her lips, wretched and savage, her world spinning, her chest aching, eyes burning - she was going to be sick. Could feel the bile rising in the back of her throat, her stomach churning.

 

The Inquisitor tensed at the sound of her scream, turning, and Volya's chest hitched. She couldn't see their face with their mask, but that  _ stare  _ -

 

The world stopped again as the Inquisitor's mask fell away, snapping back automatically, revealing the tired yet lineless face of a Chiss woman, surprise leaving her jaw ajar.

 

_ Drask. _

 

Her fallen master, who spent the last five years wasting away in a prison cell. Drask, who had left Volya with enough scars - physically and mentally - to last a lifetime. Drask, who had just murdered her - her -

 

Rage clouded Volya's vision, and Drask must've sensed it because Volya could see her smile from here. Volya  _ ached  _ to take her saber, and plunge it into Drask's heart, and watch as the light faded from those blood red eyes of hers. Wanted her to suffer, the way she had Volya, the way she had Jiurra.

 

A swarm of troopers appeared behind Drask, flanking her, and the bubble broke, Kazrai's ragged voice desperately pleading for her to  _ run _ , and Volya's instincts kicked in. She reached out a hand, calling for Jiurra's fallen saber. It flew across the way, and into Volya's hand, and then she turned and ran with Kazrai, as fast as they could, and tried to ignore the guilt festering in her stomach for leaving Jiurra behind.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know. I'm evil.


End file.
